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Science Day 2024: Personal handprint

Bacteria are part of every healthy skin. You made a culture of your hand on Sunday 24 November. Want to know how many bacteria live on your hands? Check your personal handprint here!

The photos show the Petri plates with the nutrient gel on which you pressed your fingers. The blue and red are two different food gels on which most bacteria can grow. We put those plates in a kind of oven at body temperature overnight, which allowed the bacteria to multiply, so you can see them with the naked eye!

Each dot corresponds to originally one bacterium. Healthy fingertips have hundreds to thousands of bacteria, such as Staphylococcus and Cutibacterium. These healthy bacteria keep other germs away that can cause diseases. Washing your hands is important to wash away germs you picked up somewhere. You probably also wash away some healthy bacteria, but fortunately, these healthy bacteria also just grow back!

Do you still have questions? Feel free to contact us at utb@itg.be.

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